Phoenix Rising - Psychiatric Survivor Archives of Toronto

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eviewed by Ryan Scott Judge, Jury and Executioner, a valuable addition to the field of antipsychiatry literature, tries to interweave a political analysis with a personal account of institutional psychiatry. Such an attempt creates a danger that the analysis will become muddled or the story academic and unbelievable. The author largely avoids these pitfalls by placing a well-defined character in a particular historical context. Huey Freeman's first published novel (based on his own experiences as a psychiatric inmate) is the story of Gene Silver, a university student and anti-war activist who is taken to a psychiatric ward against his will. Set in Nixon's United States at the time of the Viet Nam war, it chronicles Gene's incarceration, first in the psych ward of a general hospital and then in a private institution. The novel's premise both excuses and explains its extreme self-consciousness. Knowing the context makes it believable that a first-time inmate, eighteen years old, has, from the start of his incarceration, an analysis of the institution of psychiatry as comparable to an oppressive state apparatus. Most of us do not become inmates with this kind of awareness. However, Gene's political insight is coupled with a profound ignorance of the workings of psychiatry -a dangerous combination. As Gene discovers this strange new world, he attempts to defend himself against it. You find yourself wanting to warn him of the consequences of his self-defence. His rea- Phoenix Rising / 40 soned and articulate protests are met with further treatment; in efforts to force his compliance, his captors use insulin coma, shock, restraints, isolation and massive doses of dangerous neuroleptic drugs. Gene's anger becomes less articulate but even more passionate. Judge, Jury and Executioner affords us considerable insight into psychiatry as a form of social con trol. Its humourous, story-telling style makes the introduction of a political analysis relatively painless. With Gene, we come to understand how the institution creates the "mental patient." Normal human emotions are perceived as symptoms of illness. Protesting treatment! torture is another symptom, requiring further intervention. Human rights become privileges in the strange doublethink of a false generosity. Submission, or the appearance of submission, is the only way out of this upside-down world. Judge, Jury and Executioner paints a distinct picture of institutional psychiatry, not as a science that is flawed in its application, but as one whose basic premise is invalid. hrt'\(f\ rt\ ...
PHOENIX RISING Available now at a store near you: West Ariel Books Ltd., Vancouver Billy's News, Calgary The Book End, Saskatchewan Book Warehouse, Vancouver Common Woman Books, Edmonton Dominion News and Books, Winnipeg Healthline Bookstore, Victoria Mike's Place, Edmonton Octopus Books - 4th Ave., Vancouver Octopus Books - Comm. Drive, Vancouver Saskatoon Bookstore, Saskatchewan University of Manitoba, Winnipeg A Woman's Place Bookstore, Calgary Ontario A & A Smoke Shop. Toronto The Beaches Book Shop, Toronto Bob Miller Bookroom, Toronto The Book Cellar, Cover to Cover, Toronto The Book Cellar, Toronto The Book Cellar (Yorkville), Book City, Toronto Toronto Book Loft, Toronto Book Villa, Hamilton The Bookworks Inc., Toronto Bookworld, Toronto Britton's Smoke Shop, Ottawa Carleton University Bookstore, Ottawa The College Book Merchant, Kingston Comerford's Smoke Shop, Ottawa Dec Bookstore, Toronto Gadfly Books, Peterborough Globe Magazine and Cigars, Ottawa Insight Books, Mississauga K-W Books Exchange, Kitchener Lichtman's News and Books, Toronto Lichtman's News, Toronto Longhouse Book Shop, Toronto Mad Market, Toronto Mags and Fags, Ottawa Maison de la Presse Inte. , Toronto McMaster University Bookstore. Hamilton Medland's Variety, Hamilton Multi Mag, London News Depot, London Octopus Books, Ottawa Ottawa Woman's Bookstore, Ottawa Pages, Toronto Readers Den Inc., Toronto SCM Bookstore, Toronto This Ain't the Rosedale Library, Toronto Toronto Woman's Bookstore, Toronto Trent University Bookstore, Peterborough U of T Bookroom, Toronto Whittington's Mag and Book Store, Windsor World's Biggest Bookstore, Toronto York University Bookstore, Toronto Quebec Biblairie G.G.C. Ltee, Montreal Presto Mags Multimags, East Atlantic News, Halifax Montreal A Pair of Trindles Bookstore, Halifax Readmore Bookstore Stockroom, Halifax Red Herring Co-op Books Ltd., Halifax
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Page 3: phoenIX RIsIng December 1986
Page 6 and 7: Torture at St. Thomas Dear Editors:
Page 8 and 9: The Turkey Tail should be firmly pi
Page 10 and 11: RETROSPECTIVE SCHIZOPHRENIA by Don
Page 12 and 13: ~ The Tardive Dyskinesia Epidemic b
Page 14 and 15: J ~-- ·-'"«·'RETROSPECTIVE_ Psyc
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Page 19 and 20: Anonymous On the morning of May 4,
Page 21 and 22: :~;~«*W""·M~W';'.~W~":«-S' Pablo
Page 23 and 24: SURVIVAL I , I JeanSkov The real be
Page 25 and 26: Anonymous My first experience with
Page 27 and 28: SURVIVAL STORIES So, a word of warn
Page 29 and 30: Hugh Tapping Connie Neil I work as
Page 31 and 32: POETRY getting culture they troop u
Page 33 and 34: attte Prods as Behaviour Mod Commun
Page 35 and 36: n I e a lidy attacked the efforts o
Page 37 and 38: US Courts Restrict Forced Drugging
Page 39 and 40: ustice for the Allan Memorial Victi
Page 41: THE BOOKWORM TURNS reviewed by Carl

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